


Four Times Nebula and Tony Might Have Met and the One Time they Actually Did

by Miri Cleo (miri_cleo)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, BAMF Nebula (Marvel), Dysfunctional Family, Exactly What It Says on the Tin, IN SPACE!, Nebula & Tony Stark Friendship, POV Nebula (Marvel), POV Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:26:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26327848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miri_cleo/pseuds/Miri%20Cleo
Summary: What it says on the tin.
Relationships: Nebula & Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20
Collections: We Die Like Fen 4: We Lived to Die Afen





	Four Times Nebula and Tony Might Have Met and the One Time they Actually Did

**Author's Note:**

  * For [toucanpie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/toucanpie/gifts).



The music was loud and it's bass beat would be offensive to at least three cultures Nebula could think of. Her drink--something called whiskey--would be offensive to at least ten, but she found it agreeable. There was a noticeable burn with each sip, but the taste was also unexpectedly pleasant. While the place was full to brimming, everyone avoided her. Even the bartender kept her glass full with as minimal an interaction as possible. 

Everything about it suited her. The patrons clearly wanted to stare, but every time she caught one, Nebula's glare was withering enough to discourage more. That was, until a man slid onto the stool next to her and ordered something called scotch. He stared at her until the bartender put his drink in front of him, and then he continued to stare as he took a sip. He didn't look away when Nebula faced him, frowning.

"So," he said, smirking, "what's a smurfette like you doing in a dive like this?"

Nebula narrowed her mind. She had not heard of this race, but clearly this was a human who had gotten off his miserable planet at least once.

"I'm Tony." He extended his hand, his smirk widening to a grin.

Without a moment to consider the alternative, Nebula took his hand and flipped him onto his back on the floor. She planted her boot in the center of his chest.

"Do not ever speak to me again."

*****

Tony groaned as he tried to open his eyes and immediately decided that was a bad idea. His entire body hurt. Parts of his body he didn't even realize he had hurt. Different quadrants of his brain hurt. And when he tried to move before opening his eyes, he felt so heavy that he might have been made entirely of...something really heavy. That was when he realized he was in his suit and that the suit had no power at all. None. Zip. Nada. He definitely needed to either make the suit out of a lighter material, which was virtually impossible, or he needed to make some kind of zero power mobility failsafe. 

When he opened his eyes, he realized he was still in the helmet, and his head was screaming because of some kind of buzzing and alternately pounding machine trying to get his face plate off. 

"I heard a noise," a voice said. It was soft and delicate and vaguely childlike based on how much surprise it held.

"There was no noise." This was a gruffer voice and closer to him.

"There was definitely a noise." A man's voice this time.

"We shall see," the gruff voice said again," and then the machine started up again.

Tony tried to assess the situation. He could see arms and sparks. That was about it. He was breathing fine, so at least he wasn't floating in space somewhere. Well, he'd be dead if that were the case. But he _had_ had been fighting in space with a giant tardigrade that wanted to eat Earth or something, so he must have lost or lost power winning. And now he was being...cut up for parts by space pirates or something.

Finally, the machine stopped again, and Tony could hear the wrenching of metal as his faceplate came off. The face peering down at him was angry and attractive. And blue. Very blue. 

"Nebula, it is a robot man!" The holder of the childlike voice came into view and she had antennae.

The blue one, who Tony assumed was Nebula, grunted. "Maybe we can still sell him for parts."

*****

Nebula watched the man who called himself Tony Stark pace as he rubbed his ridiculous goatee. That this puny man was one of the defenders of an entire planet was laughable. He talked incessantly and never stopped moving. She had serious doubts about the information that had sent her here. 

"So, just...to get this all straight," Stark said, finally stopping in front of her and cocking his head as he examined her face, "you're a blue cyborg--and don't get me wrong, blue is a great color...it's just that Doctor Who led me to believe that cyborgs would be more...silvery and more inclined to, I don't know...delete, delete than ask for help--who heard from someone that heard from someone else blah blah," he waved his hands as he continued, "space rumor mill that I could help make some repairs to your system."

"I am regretting my choice to come here."

"No, I mean, it's true. I can definitely help. There's no one better equipped to help on planet Earth, but I gotta say...it's definitely a huge ego boost to know that I've got an interstellar reputation."

"If you do not deserve that reputation, I will rip your tongue out and hang you by it."

He raised his eyebrows. "Cool. Let's get to work."

*****

When Thor said he should check out a group therapy thing for people who had grown up with difficult parents, Tony hadn't realized that he meant a therapy group for people who had grown up with difficult parents that met _in space_. First, he'd learned that there was no beverage service when traveling via Einstein-Rosen Bridge. There was, however, shitty coffee at the galactic church basement where he was sitting on some kind of spongy mushroom chair in a circle of being that he might not have realized were sentient otherwise. 

His turn had come and gone, and now a blue woman leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. Tony leaned over to make a Frost Giant joke, but Thor elbowed him in the ribs before he could finish. By the way it was absolutely agonizing to breathe after that, he was pretty sure at least one of his ribs was cracked. 

"I'm Nebula."

"Hi, Nebula," everyone said in some way or another.

"My father is Thanos the Titan. I was raised helping him fulfill his quest to bring balance to the universe by slaughtering one half of each civilization we encountered. He also replaced my flesh with electronic and metal components for each fight I lost to my sister. This was a process done carefully and slowly so as to cause as much pain and discomfort as possible. Now he searches across the universe for Infinity Gems in order to bring balance quickly and efficiently with a snap."

"Wow," Tony whispered to Thor, "when you said there would definitely be someone else who had it worse than either one of us, I kinda didn't believe you, Point Break."

*****

The man called Stark was unconscious when Nebula dragged him to the ship. After their companions had crumbled into dust, he lost it. She had never seen anyone cry out in such mental anguish. But his physical wounds had taken their toll, leading him to pass out even before he finished grieving the boy. Nebula tended to the wound Thanos inflicted, but infection was likely. Still, she would need his help to get the ship back in the air. So, she would do what she could for him.

When he woke, Nebula forced him to drink some water before anything else. Then she helped him sit.

"So, Thanos was your dad."

"Yes." 

"Thanks for...helping me not die, I guess." He sounded like he wanted to die though, but he wearily extended his hand. "Tony Stark."

"I know who you are." She shook, assessing his grip as adequate even in his weakened state.

"Great. You got a name or do I have to keep mentally calling you Blue Meanie?"

"My name is Nebula." She did not understand why he tried to cover his obvious pain with humor. Humans were strange, but this one at least seemed smarter than Quill. Pain was pain whether one tried to hide it or not. Either way, there was suffering. She bore hers silently. 

"We gotta get back to Earth, see who survived...regroup. I can't...I gotta know if Pepper… Shit…" His eyes glistened with tears as he slumped. This was a man who was on the brink of admitting his own defeat, his own brokenness. 

"You should rest. I will need your help to repair the power couplings."

Nebula left him then. She had not grieved her sister yet, and that was another kind of suffering she preferred to endure alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my mystery beta!


End file.
